Insurance Fight: What Obama Has Said on ‘You Can Keep It’

U.S. President Barack Obama greets audience members after speaking about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts October 30, 2013.

In Boston on Wednesday, President Barack Obama directly addressed recent criticism of his repeated statements that “if you like your plan, you can keep it” under the new health law. Those statements, repeated in various forms since the 2008 campaign, have come under criticism as thousands of Americans who purchase their own insurance have begun receiving cancellation letters.

Here are excerpts of President Obama’s remarks Wednesday, from Federal News Service (www.fednews.com), followed by a selection of earlier statements.

Now it is also true that some Americans who have health insurance plans that they bought on their own through the old individual markets are getting notices from their insurance companies suggesting that somehow because of the Affordable Care Act, they may be losing their existing health insurance plans. This has been the latest flurry in the news.

There’s — because there’s been a lot of confusion and misinformation about this, I want to explain just what’s going on.
One of the things health reform was designed to do was to help not only the uninsured but also the underinsured. And there are a number of Americans, fewer than 5 percent of Americans, who’ve got cut-rate plans that don’t offer real financial protection in the event of a serious illness or an accident.
…
Now if you had one of these substandard plans before the Affordable Care Act became law and you really liked that plan, you were able to keep it. That’s what I said when I was running for office.

That was part of the promise we made.

But ever since the law was passed, if insurers decided to downgrade or cancel these substandard plans, what we said under the law is, you’ve got to replace them with quality, comprehensive coverage because that too was a central premise of the Affordable Care Act from the very beginning.
…

So if you’re getting one of these letters, just shop around in the new marketplace. That’s what it’s for. …Because of the tax credits that we’re offering and the competition between insurers, most people are going to be able to get better, comprehensive health care plans for the same price or even cheaper than projected. You’re going to get a better deal.

Now, there’s a fraction of Americans with higher incomes who will pay more on the front end for better insurance with better benefits and protections like the patient’s bill of rights, and that will actually save them from financial ruin if they get sick. But nobody is losing their right to health care coverage. And no insurance company will ever be able to deny you coverage or drop you as a customer altogether.

Below are a selection of Mr. Obama’s earlier statements. Also, here’s a video mashup by New York Magazine of the comment in various settings over the years.

For those Americans who already have health insurance, the only changes you will see under the law are new benefits, better protections from insurance company abuses, and more value for every dollar you spend on health care. If you like your plan you can keep it and you don’t have to change a thing due to the health care law.

First, if you already have insurance you like, you can keep it. Insurance companies can no longer refuse to cover Americans with pre-existing conditions. That’s what change looks like.

Earlier remarks from President Obama:ABC Town Hall on Health Care, June 2009
So if you’re happy with your plan, as I said, you keep it. Now, there are some restrictions we want to place on insurers. Pre-existing conditions is a tool that has prevented a lot of people from either not being able to get insurance or, if they lose their job, they can’t find insurance. We think those policies should end. So there are going to be some areas where we want to regulate the insurers a little more.

AARP Town Hall, July 2009
But keep in mind — I mean, this is something that I can’t emphasize enough: You don’t have to participate. You don’t — if you are happy with the health care that you’ve got, then keep it. If you like your doctor, keep it. Nobody is going to go out there and say, you’ve got to change your health care plan.

Organizing For America National Health Care Forum. August 2009
First, no matter what you’ve heard, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor under the reform proposals that we’ve put forward. If you like your private health insurance plan, you can keep it. If your employer provides you health insurance on the job, nobody is talking about messing with that.

Remarks by the President on Health Insurance Reform in Portland, Maine, April 2010
So now that this bill is finally law and all the folks who have been playing politics will finally have to confront the reality of what this reform is, they’re also going to have to confront the reality of what it isn’t.
They’ll have to finally acknowledge that this isn’t a government takeover of our health care system. They’ll see that if Americans like their doctor, they will keep their doctor. And if you like your insurance plan, you will keep it. No one will be able to take that away from you. It hasn’t happened yet. It won’t happen in the future.

Remarks on Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act, June 2012First, if you’re one of the more than 250 million Americans who already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance — this law will only make it more secure and more affordable. Insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime limits on the amount of care you receive. They can no longer discriminate against children with preexisting conditions. They can no longer drop your coverage if you get sick. They can no longer jack up your premiums without reason. They are required to provide free preventive care like check-ups and mammograms — a provision that’s already helped 54 million Americans with private insurance. And by this August, nearly 13 million of you will receive a rebate from your insurance company because it spent too much on things like administrative costs and CEO bonuses, and not enough on your health care. ….. Now, if you’re one of the 30 million Americans who don’t yet have health insurance, starting in 2014 this law will offer you an array of quality, affordable, private health insurance plans to choose from. Each state will take the lead in designing their own menu of options, and if states can come up with even better ways of covering more people at the same quality and cost, this law allows them to do that, too. And I’ve asked Congress to help speed up that process, and give states this flexibility in year one.

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.